FILE - A sign welcomes motorists to New York, on the border with Connecticut, near Rye Brook, New York, March 29, 2020.
Residents of four additional states will face a coronavirus-related quarantine if visiting the states of New York, New Jersey or Connecticut, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday.
Visitors from “hotspot” states — now including New Mexico, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio — traveling to the adjacent states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are required to self-quarantine for two weeks upon arrival.
The original travel advisory was implemented last month and largely restricted tourists visiting the three states from major hotspots such as California and Texas. However, as cases and hospitalizations rapidly increased around the country, the list has swelled.
The majority of the 22 states subject to the travel advisory mandate are in the South, but a few Midwestern states, such as Iowa and Wisconsin, have recorded enough new coronavirus cases to be of concern.
States reach “travel advisory” status when they exceed a certain threshold of seven-day rolling positive daily test percentages or the number of positive cases per 100,000 residents, according to local news reports.
"I cannot be more clear: Look at what's happening in the rest of the country — if we are not smart, if we don't wear masks and socially distance, cases will spike," Cuomo said Tuesday.
In the initial mandate, local police and businesses such as hotels monitored visitors and enforced the quarantine period. Now, though, tourists will be required to fill out forms containing contact information so police can ensure that the isolation period is being observed.
Enforcement teams will be stationed at airports statewide to collect the forms, Cuomo explained, and failure to comply will result in a $2,000 fine and mandatory quarantine. It is unclear how the state will enforce the quarantine for travelers arriving by car or train.
Although New York has recovered from an April peak that saw hundreds of deaths per day, State officials have been reluctant to fully resume activity.
"No one wants to go back to the hell we experienced three months ago, so please stay vigilant,” Cuomo said Tuesday, warning that the death toll across the country will follow the same pattern as cases and hospitalizations.
According to data provided by Johns Hopkins University, the tristate area has reported nearly 45,000 deaths due to coronavirus — about a third of all U.S. fatalities.
Last Friday, Cuomo urged young adults to “wear a mask” as “infection rates are alarmingly rising in 20-somethings in NY.”